Shelf rack



April 1, 1930. 4: w, N. VANCE 1,752,315

SHELF RACK Filed March 15, 1929 Patented Apr. 1, 1930 UNrran srA' EsPATENT OFFICE, 1*

WALTER N. VA1\TCE, OF NORTH AURORA, ILLINOIs, ssIeNoR o LYON METAL BROD-UGTS, INCO PORA ED, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS SHELFRACK Application filed March 15, 1929. Serial NO. 347,241.

which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, disclosesbodiment thereof.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an illustrativeform of shelf rack to which the invention may be applied; f

a preferred em- Fig. 2 is a. vertical section taken on the,

line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and 1 Fig.4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one Ofthe divider spacing andretaining members. I

The illustrative shelf rack may include a plurality of spaced uprights11, supporting between them a plurality of shelves 12 and a plurality ofdividers or dividing "plates 13 1 arranged vertically between the shelfmembers for the purpose of subdividing the shelf space between any pairof uprights 11 into a plurality of separate compartments. The uprights11 may be of any suitable material or form, such as rolled steel, andare preferably arranged to receive the shelves 12 and to rest upon thefloor or other surface.

The shelves 12 of the illustrative rack are preferably of sheet metaland may be formed to engage the uprights 11 in any suitable manner to besupported thereby, and may be spaced in the uprights as desired. Aclosure plate, preferably of sheet metal, may be positioned to close'theback of'the rack. The shelves 12 are provided at their rear edges withdepending flanges 15 which are secured by bolts 16 or other suitablefastening devices to the back closure plate 14. At their front edges,the shelves may be provided with downwardly bent horizontally extendingflanges 17 to engage the inturned horizontal flanges 18 of the binfronts 19. Shelf bearers 20, extending between and supported by theuprights 11, engage and support the respective shelves 12in the rearofthe ,downturned flanges 17.

The dividers 13, preferably of sheet-metal,

are formed with horizontally projecting, frontto rear extending flanges21 at their top edges and with horizontally projecting,

front to rear extending flanges 22 at their bottom edges. The top andbottom flanges 21 and 22 preferably project in opposite directions from;the plane of the divider'plate, as shown in Fig. 3. At their rearvertical edges the divider plates 13 are preferably ,provided withvertically extending flanges 23, which project in the side to sidedirection of the rack, and are secured to theback closure plate 14 bybolts 24 or other'suitable fastening devices. V I I y The dividers 13are positionedin spaced relation to each other and to the uprights 11according to the number of compartments de sired in the shelving betweenthe uprights 11.

In the illustrative rack, there is'provided an improved constructionfor'spacing the dividers and retaining them at their upper edgesbyinter-engagement with the, flanges Referring more particularly to Figs.2 to 1, inclusive, eachshelf is provided on its hottom face with a pairof,preferably front and p 7 rear, spacing strips 25, which may bespotweldedor Otherwise securely fastened to the shelving. These stripsextend in the horizontal, and side to side direction of the rack and areconstructed and formedto receive andretain the upper edges or flanges21of the shelf dividers and to permit positioning of the dividers in thevarious locations that maybe desired. Each strip 25 is slit at 25 to setoff retaining portions 26 which are depressed (as shown in Fig. 4) toprovide spaced retaining abutments at the sides of spaces 27 into whichthe flanges 21 of the dividers may be fitted and retained againstlateral movement. The retaining portions 26 may be formed by pressingfrom a strip 25 a discontinuous rib or corrugation which provides suchretainingportions as short,

downwardly arched or curved sections of the discontinuous rib.

In assembling the. dividers between uprights and any pair of successivetop and bottom shelves 12, the top edge of each divider is located sothat its flange 21 extends through registering companion spaces 27 ofthe front and rear spacing strips 25. The lower flanges 22 of the,dividers may be bolted or otherwisesecured to the bottom shelf, asindicated at 22.

The spacing strips 25 provide an efficient means for spacing andpositioning the top edges of the dividers 13. They may be manufacturedcheaply, and the depressed retaining portions 26 being rounded arewithout sharp edges likely to damage articles stored on the shelves. i

It is thought that the invention and many of itsattendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit andscope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.Moreover, it is not indispensable that all features of the invention beused conjointly, as they may be advantageously employed in varioussubcombinations and other combinations. it I claim:

1. The combination with a shelf rack having shelves arranged therein,one above the other, of depressed projections extending longitudinallyand downwardly from the bottom face of a shelf between the sides of therack and disconnected therefrom, and a vertical divider arrangeablebetween an upper and a lower shelf and between said projectionsand heldagainst lateral displacement by said projections.

2. The combination with a shelf rack having shelves arranged therein,one above the other, of a flatstrip detachably secured directly to aface of a shelf and slit to set off divider receiving spaces anddepressed between slits to provide divider holding projections, and avertical divider arrangeable between said shelves and in a dividerreceiving space and held against lateral displacement by saidprojections. l 3. A divider support comprising a strip, spaced archedprojections punched from said strip and in alinement with each other, aflat portion intermediate the ends of the arched projections forreceiving a flange on a vertically arranged shelf divider, said stripbeing adapted for attachment to a face of a shelf member, whereby theflange of the divider Will fit in the straight portion between theendsof the arched projections to hold the divider vertically in positionbetween a pair of shelves and of the divider.

prevent lateral displacement scribed my name.

WALTER iv. VANCE.

